Kupo Cafe Game Awards 2024 Day 4!!

Welcome, kupo~!! Here are the last of the awards and the GOTY of Day 4 of the Kupo Cafe Game Awards of 2024. The game of the year of bona fide certified and is completely objective. We don't make the rules here, kupo.


Forward by Andrew:

First of all thank you for sticking around the Kupo Cafe for these last 5 years. Today being the last day of awards we have my heavy hitters.

I want to first thank Mog for pushing us to do something creative at least once a year. Everytime it sounds like a terrible idea, and find myself always behind schedule. As I write this, I am on a plane off the coast of the Russian Far East. But I do this not only fun but to be able to do something with my best friend. You, reader, are just along for the ride. Thank you sticking with us and see you all in the New Year!

The French were right, War Does Suck Award - Conscript by Jordan Mochi and Catchweight Studio

Presented by Andrew

Conscript is a World War 1 survival horror action game, taking place sometime around the Battle of Verdun on the Western Front. You play as a French soldier defending against a major German offensive that initially captures your trench line and forces your unit to disperse. Unfortunately, plenty of fellow soldiers are forced to either breakout or fight a desperate last stand until relief hopefully comes. Even worse for you specifically, during the retreat your brother is nowhere to be found, and is rumored to be trapped in a fort that the Germans now have control over. Out of your own volition, you are determined to rescue your brother and return him home safely, no matter the cost.

You must push the Germans back, you will have to retake the fort.

In order to do this, much like other survival horror games, like Signalis of recent memory, Conscript’s gameplay is a mix of collecting progression and items and combat in (mostly) close quarters. As any good survival game, optimal play is as challenging as it is rewarding. Ammo and item conservative is key. As it is WW1 game, where automatic self-loading weapons are still in their infancy, weapons for the most part can be painfully sIow to cycle, and can be somewhat inaccurate at range. Personally, whenever I am given the option to manually cycle a bolt immediately I am won over. But this pretty good gunplay is balanced with a simple and effective melee system, light and heavy attacks. Some melee weapons are faster than others, some are deadly but fragile. They’re good in a pinch or if you can time a hit right before an enemy attacks to interrupt them, or more usefully, put downed enemies out of their misery.

In war, there are few kindnesses.

So in order to find your brother, you must explore and clear out the trenches, blockhouses, and no man’s land of enemies, obstacles, and hazards. While doing so you can stumble upon the remnants of your unit, and you can choose to help them, a medic trying to keep up with the casualties, or a guy that maybe just needs a cigarette to clear the mind. For as bleak and miserable the trenches are, the game does a good job of making the setting feel alive, its a place where flora and fauna struggles but does exist, its just dealing with being ground down by artillery and the rain. But don’t me started on the rats. They can go to hell.

I hate the rats.

After clearing out the initial support trench, the game really opens up, your journey takes you through a local ruined town, swamps and farmland, cemetaries and wastelands. While dirt and grime is abundent, there are some quiet moments where you can piece together the lives of the people that lived there. At a certain point though you more or less go to hell. All good stuff.

Average French Soldiers Experience.

Shoutouts to Rob Zacny from Remap Radio for putting this on my radar. Rob, if you’re somehow reading this, know you are my GOAT.

Anyway, a lot of my takeaway from Conscript is that it has a good balance of allowing the player to synergize their loadout for optimal play. If possible sneak attack with a melee weapons, as this is a guaranteed 1 hit kill on most enemies. At range, try to maximize using the bolt action rifle due to its high damage, if threat stick continues, equip shotgun, and downed enemies are knocked out with a shovel hit. Groups of enemies should be dealt with grenades. Create space as necessary to reload. Easy.

Until you’re dumped into a hellhole and will scrap by within an inch of your life due to a bad roll or being caught off guard, and you’re trapped in a deadend and trying throw anything you can to stop the enemy tide. There’s a real push and pull to the pacing, giving you ample supplies to prepare your assault or defence. The weapons feel good to use, and again mapping a “Cycle Weapon” action to a different button from Fire, creates a satisfying tacile response that I feel rewards me for using those weapons.

Hot Shovel on Shovel action.
Spoilers ahead for this section only. Feel free to skip ahead.

I’ve been singing the praise of this game for awhile, but I have a major beef with this game and some decisions its made. Conscript has a few different endings, dependent on actions the player takes during the game, helping side characters, choices of mercy or vengenance, and lastly collecting secret items. Now, when it comes to survival horror, I tend to be pretty thorough in cleaning out rooms or not following the critical path. I want to see everything the game has to offer. I keep a good mental map of places I should return to when given a new item that can help with progression. So, I collected the secret keys, found a bird in a sunken tunnel, I opened every chest and locker I could.

Except one. Late game, there is a locker that belongs to your brother, that you are requred to open in order to get the final item to get the true ending. The combination to this locker is a randomized code that is found in a hidden journal entry, chapters ago, in an optional story beat that you can conclude at any point. I did not have a save that went that far back, and scouring forums lead me to a deadend. I was and still am mildly ticked off. I'm upset that it's hidden, but it's one of those things where I felt I did my best and was denied my desired ending due to a obtuse design choice.

This is where I felt I was when I learned I messed up the true ending.

Conscript has incredible bang for your buck. Fans of the genre should really give the title some attention due to being generous with its length, providing succinct, strong writing, tight controls, and plenty of scares. I really enjoyed the time I spent with it.

Conscript affirmed two things to me, war is still hell, and hell is in France.

Metaphors for war be damned. Subtlety is for cowards.

Moguri's 10 "Best Of's" of 2024 Awards

Presented by Moguri

It's that time of year: the miscellaneous awards that precede the big one. Also the post with the most end-of-the-year reflection. So, here it goes.

I'll start off with 10 last awards, no explanation given unless you want to pick a fight with me. No order either. Followed by the games I played this year, either to some capacity to ones I actually beat. Which is very few. These are also some games that I wish that I had the time to really write about, if not here then in my own personal writings. Finally, the games of 2024 that I wish I had more hours of my day to play and worked a job that didn't require me to be so engaged in after hours.

As I list these out, my final words on 2024 are that it sure was a year and I am glad and ready to move onto the next one. As I grow older and my body starts to show signs of deterioration, I tend to start looking at things on more positive notes. I got to eat good food, spend time with friends and family, and I have a bunch of opportunities for growth to where I'm keeping busy, like with my actual career work or working on little projects here and there. Oh, I also reached affiliate on my Twitch channel (shout outs to Ayaaaboo and Ethyxx, and to the pals Umami, Amaro, Taka, Aisu, Paragon, and all the others who dropped by and supported little 'ol me :3)I don't think 2024 was my best year per say, but it sure was a year. So, without further ado, here is all my 2024 laid out for you, dear reader~.

Some Gaming Statistics From my Steam 2024 Review: Games of 2024 that played a decent amount of time: Games of 2024 that I wish I had more time to play:

With that, let's move onto the last bit of the Kupo Cafe Game Awards 2025~!!


Andrew's GOTY 2024/ Breaking News: Classical Chinese Novel, Does it Again! / #1 Wife Guy Award - Triangle Strategy by ArtDink and Square Enix

Presented by Andrew

Finally we made it to the last award of the year! Unsurprisingly it's niche strategy game! Huzzah!

Triangle Strategy was game that floated around in my inner circle, spoken about in the same conversations as Octopath Traveler for using the HD-2D style, and also its very amusing title. It sat it my “probably someday” wishlist for years and earlier this year I picked it up on sale on a whim. Then it sat on my hard drive for another ten or so months before on another whim I started playing it around the Thanksgiving break.

The first few hours were honestly pretty unnoteworthy. Coming off my last tactics RPG, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, this comes off as pretty stuffy, it takes itself very seriously and some characters are ecactly what they say on their label. But once the narrative ball starts rolling, things started to get real interesting.

Like the Fire Emblem games, there are a lot of characters, some specific or certain types of playthroughs, and also like FE, most of these characters are embody the tropes that are well-known and loved. You have the reasonable but often bland main character Serenoa, a spicy fire mage, Lady Frederica, the unsure prince Roland, the macho Sargeant-at-Arms Eredor, the shrewd advisor Benedict, the cold spy Anna, and so on and so forth, many to collect, some literally delivering themselves on a silver platter to join your party, some significantly more useful than others. This may sound like a compliant but I appreciate that with this generous cast of characters that they are unique. No one unit, even if they’re both archers, share every skill. So party compositions can be really interesting, choosing synergy is the name of the game. Especially unlike FE, Triangle Strategy never really gives you a big battle where every unit in your army can take the field, the most you can on average is 12 units, and even then 10 is probably more common.

But using a unit is also the only way to get backstory on them. Given how big the cast can be, there isn't a whole lot there. You can get 3 little vignettes on each character. Though there are some funny moments and some pretty choice lines.

Hell yeah.

Combat like the characters are also relatively straightforward. While there are no class categories, one could divide the cast along the classic RPG archetypes: DPS, Tanks, Rouges, Archers, Mages, Healers, and Utility characters. Most will fall under at least one of these archetypes.

It's how to use their unique abilities that can really shape your strategies. An interesting aspect of the tactical grid system is flanking and backstabbing. Unlike some games where if a unit is powerful enough it can cavalier out on its and wreck anything it's path. Here, with good maneuvering, you can expose unit to multiple followup and critical hits if surrounded. This can used to great effect to melt enemies, but beware, this can just as easily happen to you if caution isn't heeded. So, moving in small mutually-supporting squads is key.

I enjoyed that Serenoa, even as blade user, becomes a potent ranged option if you spec him that way.

Another welcomed aspect of combat is the verticality of a lot of the maps, which is a great strength of Triangle Strategy’s design. The difference in height can impact not only a unit's movement range but it's accuracy and targeting ability. Taking the high ground is an absolute must if you are able, though mounted units that have high movement bonuses to on flat land, they take a penalty trying to move vertically. I appreciate that map and objectives dictate party composition. Sure you can have a few anchor members, but a defensive mission requires a different party than a mobile assault party.

A simple but elegant solution to force the player to consider their environment before just trying to roll the enemy.

A choice I find interesting in its combat is the not having permadeath. When I play permadeath runs, as soon as someone good dies (usually my fault), the run is trashed and I will start over. Here on the other, with that consequence not hanging over my head, I feel more incentivized to not just immediately restart the fight if one of my units is killed, but to see if I play around a lose, evenmoreso if it was strong unit. I have had more fun trying to finish an encounter with 3 units left on the field than just grinding away at a no-death victory.

Last thing about combat is that there isnt’t much triangle in this Triangle Strategy, at first I thought it referred to the classic weapon triangle, sword beats spear, spear beats are, axe beats sword. But no what weapon you use is pretty inconsequential. There is some elemental weaknesses, but those are often too few and far between that it feels like more of an after thought in most situations. The only triangle I can see in this strategy is in its narrative.

Where I said in my prior days's review of Until Then that it had some of my favourite art this year, Triangle Strategy takes the 2D-HD artstyle and elevates it to a new standard. While the discrepancy from the 2D character sprites to the in-game painted art, where Triangle Strategy really shines is its environmental art. I am especially a big fan of the Aesfrost Ship Sabotage fight, as that ship is easily one of the more gorgeous artistic rendings of a ship I have scene. Similar things I can say for the night battle in the Glenwood Castle Gardens, and the Source engagements.

They did not have to go this hard.

A key aspect that hooked me in early on is the Scales of Conviction system, a way of adding some democracy into the decisions that to pass for Serenoa and the gang. At major junctions of the story, characters will voice their opinions on how to deal with the situation at hand. You can take this opportunity to ask around for more information, try to educate yourself on the topic. But importantly with knowledge you can attempt to convince others to support your desired outcome. This can play out in interesting ways, as you should use the most effective explanation to the person you're talking to, but the correct response to one person may not work on another. I found this interesting, as you had to be more thoughtful than just presenting the answer that supports whatever your direction is.

I love council democracy!!

The Scales of Conviction also leads to the branching paths that your playthrough can take, and while at this time I have only completed one of the 4 possible routes. I can see myself at some point return to see what other options I could have taken as I feel thay the decision I made in this story really impacted the ending I received. While I didn't really jive with the give-up attitude that one character presented, I am keen on a certain usurption of a throne. Regardless, even paths that lead to minor detours from other choices do lead to bespoke maps and scenarios that I want to see for myself.

Wow! I love being presented by interesting choices!

Finally, the last piece of the Game of the Year puzzle. Triangle Strategy, once the ball gets rolling, has one of the most enthralling narratives that I've read in the last few years. Based on the classic Chinese novel The Water Margin, the same source material that Suikoden is based off of. I do not want to spoil any of TS’s story because I want more interest in it so here's a brief list of what you too could see in a playthrough: political scheming, intrigue, economic policy, foreign policy, apartheid, civil liberties, ethnostates, and religion. Yeah. Good stuff. I whooped, hollered, gasped, and grimaced at this story and loved it.

I love enforcing the mandate of the state!

As the year comes to a close I think back on all the games I played. Honestly not that many, but what I did choose to spend my time with I did so out of joy. Triangle Strategy represented everything I wanted out of a game this year. Stellar art, cool characters, interesting narrative choices, thoughtful gameplay design, the works.That’s why I chose it as my game of the year this year.

Thank you again for taking the time to read through my passion for games. I hope at least one of these reviews in the last few days sparked some interest of your own.

As a known wifeguy, I did get the wifeguy ending.
Take it sleazy.

Your friend in gaming,

sommerkurz


Moguri GOTY 2024 / Hits Home, Times Three - Until Then by Polychroma Games

Presented by Moguri

When we doing our Game of Year planning/deliberations, Andrew and I had a long discussion on this game, and this might be the only game that we played together and thought it was great enough to be put on our final lists, other than Blaseball in 2020 (rest in peace). Even then, we technically played that together. While here, I had to convince him to play it. And you, dear reader, now have to play it too. Them's the rules of Kupo Cafe GOTY.

My friend did a really good job covering what this game is in his award for it, so now let me tell you what Until Then really means to me, and why it stood out as my game of the year in 2024 in a year that is so stacked with narrative games.

On a technical level, this game is absolutely gorgeous. The art design cannot be overlooked in any way shape or form and shows such a mastery of taking something so simple as pixel art and showing how far you can take it. Growing up with pixels in games that started out as technical limitations to an stylized aesthetic, you can tell the art designers were so inspired and took that all the way they could. Character sprites where you can tell each individual pixels transform into high-resolution pixel art reminiscent of post-PC-98 early PC artistry - and both the simple and high-res are able convey any emotions needed. Same as how a simply drawn line in the "Adventure Time"/Rebecca Sugar style can be a dramatic change in a character's expression, Until Then can really convey a simple happy Mark Borja into a man who is witnessing reality change right before his eyes through putting a few different colored pixels under his eyes.

Beyond the characters, the environment they live in really sets it apart from any pixel-based game I've played. The combination of 3D with still that low-poly build, sprite-based objects, and even voxel-like builds all add to a cohesion of the overall style while still giving way for the characters to really shine. This game really wears its inspiration on its sleeves and it knows it. So instead of using it as a limitation, like how many other games do through ignoring fine details or making up for it through other means like finding letters that are read out to you, Until Then makes the things you want and need super clear while balancing what it needs to make the background feel like it belongs. In other words, everything feels like it has its purpose.

Oh, and don't even get me started on just the cherry on top of this whole art design praise - the lighting and camera. God, what an amazing extra layer this game has to really bring every scene to life. In where Square-Enix and the whole HD-2D trend started, Until Then takes that same philosophy and applies it in a way where I think they do an even better job. In every scene, there's instances of source lighting and framing lighting which really gives the sense of characters, despite being flat 2D sprites, an element of 3D and belonging. Even objects not even in the scene can show that they are there through the trick of their shadows being present, like the fences on the basketball court. Combine that with simple tricks dating all the way back to the SNES days of parallax, particle effects that seemingly bounce off a hand, or just something as simple as dithering backgrounds or animated lines of movement in the close-up "anime-style" comedic scenes. Now, combine that with visual camera tricks like bokeh and blurring, chromatic aberration, reflections, dust particles, framing design. You get something that is so unique in this medium where I have never seen it before, if not done to a level of this caliber.

Before I move onto the story, I want to give a big shout-outs to the music and the musical and sound design as well. Often overlooked, I think this soundtrack just really adds to this game in a way that makes it really memorable. Like a lot of this game that aims to be simple yet opens up the more you spend time with it, the music starts off with simply piano. You later on understand the importance of the starting music as you play through the game. But to start off with piano, then Mark practicing his piece, then later the piano itself being an integral plot point - the music needs to be top notch. And it is. The inclusion of actual piano compositions like Grieg's "Wedding Day" combined with original pieces that play a role in the narrative, and the soundtrack being the perfect fit for all the scenes in the game just really adds to the experience of it all. Combine that with all the sound design too, from the hawkers in the street trying sell you food to the hustle and bustle of school grounds or the fair to the creepy stillness of abandoned areas that aren't exactly 100% quiet. Oh, and the not-The-Strokes The Strokes band is a pretty funny touch.

All this adds up to the meat of the game and what got me hooked from the start - the story. I will be doing my best to avoid spoilers allow me to start off with the secret that by now is well-known but in case you don't know it (first of all my b and second I think anticipating it will be good for you if you are not convinced about playing it yet), you do not play this game once. You play it through three times - three time lines, three ending. All absolutely worth it.

I will also address Andrew's claim about the ending and about the "sad space ghosts" right now. This game does delve into the concept of quantum mechanics and the theory that there are infinite universes and time lines as its sci-fi element. But this game and no doubt about it also has a lot to do with Filipino culture where superstitions and beliefs about afterlife and ideas around fate runs strong. The two main characters were caught up in a time line where they were never meant to be, at least in that moment. Talk about imperfect timing, the "sad space ghosts" had a love so strong with no way to achieve closure so they used up all the energy they can muster to not to see their loved ones once more, but to push them down a path where they thought they would be happier. But these "sad space ghosts" are not all knowing. They made a mistake. And I don't blame them. They are grieving just as much as the main characters. But whether or not you personally believe in fate, in a lot of media and stories out there - fate is cruel. And changing fate is dangerous. So, how far would you go for love?

Anyways, all talk about endings aside, Andrew also mentioned how this is a fantastic story about youth and growing up, dealing with the complexities of life and relationships all in a package that feels both modern and, in a way, dated yet realistic. A time that seems far off but in reality is closer than we think. Some might call this nostalgia, but whether or not it is that feeling Until Then introduces such a stellar cast of characters all with their surface personalities and their internal personal struggles that you see as you make it through the narratives. What really stuck me so much is Cathy's whole deal. A friend who tries really hard to support her friends, but ends up feeling alone as a result. She tries hard to put on a brave face, despite how she feels about her role in the friend group and despite her home life. And her constant denial to her friends who really want to her open up leads her to make decisions that unfortunately ends that opportunity altogether. The first act ending really got me, especially with Cath's last act of opening up in the form of a discovered gift found many years later.

Until Then is full of these moments, moments where I just really wanted to scream my heart out to ones where it got me whooping and hollering at my computer screen. A story about three friends trying to make it through life despite all the turmoil, despite all the loss, and despite all the factors beyond their control. They have each other to depend on. And even if feelings get in the way, as long as the trust is there they'll be fine. It's hard, and it's not always black and white. But that's the thing that sucks about life, and also what is beautiful about it. The final line reads "the world hasn't ended yet", and I think that's such a line of beauty.

As a person who has lost my grandma last year and a dear cousin this year, a person who had to be a pallbearer for both of them and carry them to their final resting place, a person who is still trying to learn more about his Filipino identity, and a person who still struggles to make it through life with my mentality and my relationships - Until Then was a game that really shook me to my core. It was a game of comfort, a game of fun, a game of relatability, a game of realization, and a game that really made me think a whole lot. A game that I would definitely be replying later down the line. A game that I want to share with so many people.

A game that I truly think is a masterpiece, and now sits on my personal top 10 games I had the pleasure of playing.

Thank you to the entire team at Polychroma Games. Can't wait to see what you have planned next.



We, Moguri and Andrew at Kupo Cafe, wish you a Happy New Year and hope it's a blessed one coming into 2025. We love you, and thank you so much for reading our silly little thoughts on games.

Thanks again for reading Day 4!! Tune in next year for even more awards!!

A big big BIG shoutouts to Andrew - follow him on Twitter (@sommerkurz) and in the mean time follow me too (@mogknight on Twitter OR @kupo.cafe on Bluesky OR mogknight11 on Twitch)

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